Double package

ABSTRACT

A double package construction utilizing a single rectangular sheet of flexible material folded and sealed to form two containers each having front and rear broad surfaces, side edges, and top and bottom sealed edges, the rear broad surfaces of the packages being joined by a web portion midway between their side edges, the web portion including perforations along its length to facilitate the separation of the packages without disturbing any indicia disposed on their front broad surfaces.

United States Patent Willis [54] DOUBLE PACKAGE [72] Inventor: WilliamF. Willis, 174a Addison Road, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. 90274 [22]Filed: Nov. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 203,318

52 US. Cl. .229/53, 206/56 AB 51 int. Cl. ..B65d 31/00 [58] Field ofSearch.....229/53, 56, 69; 206/47 A, 56 AB,

206/56 A, 56 AA, 57 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,332,548 7/1967 Piazze ..206/56 AB 51 Oct. 10, 1972 PrimaryExaminer-Donald F. Norton Attorney-John Holtrichter, Jr.

[ ABSTRACT A double package construction utilizing a single rectangularsheet of flexible material folded and sealed to form two containers eachhaving front and rear broad surfaces, side edges, and top and bottomsealed edges, the rear broad surfaces of the packages being joined by aweb portion midway between their side edges, the web portion includingperforations along its length to facilitate the separation of thepackages without disturbing any indicia disposed on their front broadsurfaces.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures DOUBLE PACKAGE two parts.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally tothe field of containers, and more particularly to packaging havingmultiple compartments.

2. Description of the Prior Art Packaging structures having a pluralityof container portions or compartments are well known in the art. Themajority of work done in this area concerns the fabrication of pairs ofconnected bags usually from a seamless continuous strip of plastictubing or other flexible material, preferably thermoplastic for ease ofsealing. The tubing is heat sealed along comparatively narrow transverseareas spaced apart to distances equal to the length of a pair of bags.Midway between the sealed areas, the tube is cut nearly in two along atransverse line and the tube cut up into sections and along lines midwaybetween the side edges of each sealed area to form a plurality of pairsof bags sealed at the bottom and connected together for a short distancealong the periphery of the open ends. These pairs of connected bags arethen suspended at their interconnection on a horizontal bar of asuitable device for filling and sealing purposes. After sealing, theinterconnection between the bags may either be cut to separate the bagsor left intact with the filled bags connected at their tops andextending diagonally downwardly away from each other. It can be seenthat this technique provides, if the bags are not separated, acumbersome, space consuming, double package structure in which the bagsmay all too easily be inadvertently separated because of the narrow andrelatively weak connecting portion. 7

This multiple packaging has been extensively used in order to minimizemanual handling of the individual bags or enwrapments. For example, onewell known scheme is to provide a plurality of enwrapments connected attheir top into a chain or series to facilitate the supporting,advancing, opening, filling, closing, sealing, or other operations towhich enwrapments may be subjected during their use for packaging. As inthe first mentioned double packaging, the interconnection aspects of thecontainers is basically to facilitate filling, etc., and they areusually separated immediately after being filled. However, if they arenot separated, they present a difficult and costly package structure totransport, store and display.

Still another type of prior art double packaging is one in which a pairof back-to-back compartments are formed by side gussets, and a separateelongated strip of material interconnecting the centers folds of thegussets. This type of structure is well adapted for use as a doublecompartment collapsible tube, but not one which allows the compartmentsto be separated into two individual containers.

Possibly the latest development in the prior art in the area of multipleand separable container packaging is that of forming two side-by-sidecontainers from a single larger bag by forming a seal midway between theside edges of the larger bag and then providing perforations along thisseal. This technique has the disadvantage of disturbing the broadsurfaces of the package structure by the depression caused in thesealing process, and also by the perforations. This is significant sincethese broad surfaces invariably are used to carry the product name andother informational indicia, including a list of contents, andinstructions in preparation and use of the contents of the package. Itshould be readily apparent that the disadvantages of this scheme areextensively heightened when the bags are separated along the center lineperforations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditionscharacteristic of the prior art, it is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide a new and improved double package structure notsubject to the disadvantages enumerated above.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a strong, yetcompact, double package structure.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a doublepackage structure in which the joined bags are not easily separated byaccident.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a doublepackage structure in which the broad surfaced portions of the joinedbags are not disturbed by the means used for joining the bags and arenot disturbed by the separation of the bags.

According to the present invention, a double package construction isprovided including a pair of package portions each having front and rearbroad surfaces, side edges, and sealed top and bottom edges. Theconstruction also includes a web portion joining the rear broad surfacesof the package portion extending along a line between the top and bottomedges parallel to and midway between the side edges, the web portionincluding perforation means along the length thereof for facilitatingthe separation of the package portions thereat.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel areset forth with particularity in the appended claims, the presentinvention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood bymaking reference to the following description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing in which like reference characters refer tolike components in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of adouble package construction in accordance with the presently preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the package construction of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of one bag, after the doublepackage construction of FIG. 1 has been separated along the perforationsin the web portion;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a double package construction inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, and moreparticularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a double packageconstruction 11 having a pair of similar package portions 13 and 15,each having opposite facing front broad surfaces 17 and facing rearbroad surfaces 19. Also, the portions 13 and include side edges 21 andsealed top and bottom edges 23 and 25, respectively. A web portion 27joins the rear broad surfaces 19 along a line extending between the topand bottom edges23 and 25 parallel to and midway between the side edges21, the web portion including perforations 29 along the length of theweb portion 27 for facilitating the separation of the package portions13 and 15 thereat.

The broad front surfaces 17, it will be noted, are well adapted todisplay brand name and other advertising indicia, for example, asdenoted generally by reference numeral 31 in FIG. 1. Unlike certaindouble packaging of the prior art, the indicia 31 is not disturbed orencroached upon by an inwardly extending seam and perforations down thecenter of these broad surfaces. In contrast to the prior art, thepresent invention provides the web portion 27 extending between andtransversely to the inner broad surfaces 19 of the construction. Theseparation of the package portions 13 and 15 is readily accomplished bygrasping the web portion 27 with the fingers of each hand on oppositesides of the perforations 29, and pulling apart at this point. Thisaction will cause the web portion to divide, as illustrated by thesingle package portion and associated part of the web portion in FIG. 3.

The invention contemplates the fabrication of the double packageconstruction using a single rectangular sheet of flexible packagingmaterial such as, for example, a cellulose acetate or other plasticfilms such as polyethylene, or a paper product, or a thin metallic film.The sheet of material 33 is folded by appropriate machinery, as shown inthe sectional view of FIG. 4, with a beginning side 35 and an endingside 37 (which are parallel to the side edges 21) overlapping each otherand sealed together by any suitable process, along with a central stripportion 39 of the sheet 33 at the web portion 27. At the same time theweb portion is formed by a heat or pressure process, for example, theperforations 29 may be introduced. In fact, the bags 13 and 15 may beformed and filled essentially simultaneously along with the web portionand its perforations.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention illustrated inFIG. 5, a double package construction 51 includes a first bag 53 and anarrower second bag 55, joined in a unitary construction by an integral,transversally extending, web portion 57 with its perforations 59extending therealong. In all respects, except for the relative widthdimension of the two package portions, this construction is similar tothe presently preferred embodiment previously described. Thus, arectangular sheet of suitable material is folded so that its sidesoverlap each other at the web portion 57 along with a strip portionwhich is closer to one of the sides than the other.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 is well suited for applications where a sampleportion is desired to be removably joined to a full sized container, orwhere the ingredients of the larger bag 53 is to be mixed by a user withthe small r vo ume or diffe ent fo of in ed ts contained in therelatively small r bag g A g aint t lre advertising, instructional, orother indicia may be imprinted or otherwise caused to be displayed onthe broad surfaces of the bags, and the informational content of theindicia will not be destroyed or disturbed by the separation of thepackage portions along the perforations in the web portion.

From the foregoing, it should be evident that a very advantageous andnovel double package construction has been described which overcomes thedisadvantages of the prior art. Also, it should be realized that thematerials used in fabricating the various embodiments of the inventionare not critical and any material generally considered to be suitablefor a particular function or application may be utilized. Likewise, anysealing and perforating means which is adapted to handle the particularflexible material used, may be employed.

Although only two embodiments of the invention have been described indetail, it should be understood that the invention is susceptible toother embodiments within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it isintended that the foregoing disclosure and the showings in the drawingshall be considered only as illustrations of the principles of thisinvention.

What is claimed is:

l. A double package construction, comprising:

a pair of package portions each having front and rear relatively broadsurfaces, relatively narrower side edges, and sealed top and bottomedges, the distance between said front and rear surfaces being less thanthe lateral dimension of each of said broad surfaces; and

a web portion joining said rear broad surfaces of said package portionsalong a line between said top and bottom edges parallel to and midwaybetween said side edges, said web portion including perforation meansalong the length thereof for facilitating the separation of said packageportions thereat.

2. A package construction according to claim I, wherein said web portionextends between said pair of package portions essentially transversallyto said rear broad surfaces.

3. A package construction according to claim I, wherein said pair ofpackage portions and said web portion are integrally formed from asingle sheet of flexible material.

4. A package construction according to claim 3, wherein said singlesheet of material is rectangular and has beginning and ending sidesparallel to said side edges, said sides overlapping and sealed to eachother and to a strip portion of said sheet at said web portion.

5. A package construction according to claim 4, wherein said packageportions have essentially the same width dimension, said strip portionbeing midway between said sides of said sheet of material.

6. A package construction according to claim 4, wherein one of saidpackage portions has a greater width dimension between said side edgesthan that of the other of said package portions, said strip portionbeing closer to one of said sides than to the other.

1. A double package construction, comprising: a pair of package portionseach having front and rear relatively broad surfaces, relativelynarrower side edges, and sealed top and bottom edges, the distancebetween said front and rear Surfaces being less than the lateraldimension of each of said broad surfaces; and a web portion joining saidrear broad surfaces of said package portions along a line between saidtop and bottom edges parallel to and midway between said side edges,said web portion including perforation means along the length thereoffor facilitating the separation of said package portions thereat.
 2. Apackage construction according to claim 1, wherein said web portionextends between said pair of package portions essentially transversallyto said rear broad surfaces.
 3. A package construction according toclaim 1, wherein said pair of package portions and said web portion areintegrally formed from a single sheet of flexible material.
 4. A packageconstruction according to claim 3, wherein said single sheet of materialis rectangular and has beginning and ending sides parallel to said sideedges, said sides overlapping and sealed to each other and to a stripportion of said sheet at said web portion.
 5. A package constructionaccording to claim 4, wherein said package portions have essentially thesame width dimension, said strip portion being midway between said sidesof said sheet of material.
 6. A package construction according to claim4, wherein one of said package portions has a greater width dimensionbetween said side edges than that of the other of said package portions,said strip portion being closer to one of said sides than to the other.